I imagined the lack of buttons would have proved to be frustrating however this is not the case as the menus are logical and concise. Alphanumeric entry is via drop down menus, which let you quickly select numbers and letters for waypoint entry. Up to 500 waypoint entries are available and names are limited to combinations of up to six letters/numbers and there are many icons to choose from. You can quickly mark your present position as a waypoint by holding down one of the buttons for a second. It has all the usual nav formats and measurements can be displayed in Nautical (knots included), Statute (yards not included) and Metric.

I have used it bushwalking through fairly dense scrub and tree canopy and it did tend to track satellites well. There were a few short occasions where it lost signal in particularly dense cover (to be expected with a relatively small internal antenna) however it recovered within about ten seconds in lighter cover. I would not recommend relying on the GPS compass feature in dense cover because it did have trouble maintaining heading information updates in low satellite coverage areas. I am not disappointed with its performance in dense bush, and as anyone familiar with units with small antennas will know, it is just something you live with. I was using a magnetic compass in particularly dense areas where I experienced poor coverage and it is good navigation practice to use a magnetic compass and map in conjunction with your GPS anyway. In light and open cover I routinely get 8 metre accuracy and sometimes as good as 5 metre accuracy. If I turn it on outside near my last fix it usually gets a lock in about 10 seconds.

It maintains accuracy on the passenger seat of the car and is even better up on the dash. It gives a good presentation of speed, heading, time and distance to go on one big clear screen and the backlighting is very good. It has a nice rubbery casing and this makes it ideal to wedge it in an upright position between the dash mat and the windscreen while I am driving along.

I decided the genuine Garmin data upload cable was too expensive and made my own lead from a cannibalised mobile phone charger. Uploading the latest free Garmin software revision (mine was shipped with v1.05) was a snap and I was very impressed with how easy it was to update. The new software has some nifty features worth getting. I have used some shareware utilities such as "GARtrip" and "GPSutility" to upload waypoints from scanned paper maps and street directories, and you can edit, upload and download waypoint info and track info. It is obviously faster to modify waypoint info from your computer keyboard and then upload the new waypoints in seconds. It has a non-volatile memory so flat batteries don't present any risk of losing your stored data.

Any disappointments? Only a couple of minor ones. It is very hard to tell if the backlight is on in sunlight, and because it toggles on and off by momentarily pressing the power button, you can accidentally bump it on and be wasting batteries. You can't scroll the map around; you can only zoom in and out. This makes it difficult to review your recorded trail in any detail, and you need to zoom out and lose definition to see much of your trail. It gets cluttered with waypoint info when you zoom out trying to see your whole trail although you can turn the waypoint display off.

In summary, it is a compact gem of a GPS with a big screen and for the price I believe it represents excellent value. Make yourself a data lead or buy one from Garmin because the shareware computer-based utilities are cool. Two thumbs up.

366 of 376 found the following review helpful:

Limited usefulness  Jun 21, 2000

Very handy size: about as small as my Nokia cell phone, and a little shorter. Great for shirt pocket use. I'll toss it in my daypack when deer hunting.

Display is correspondingly small too: 1 1/4 by 2 1/4 inches.

But if all you want to know is your current location, your current heading, and the route back to your tent, it'll do the job.

Antenna is weak: even a light tree canopy or shirt pocket material gives it fits. No provision for external antenna.

The barometer/altimeter function is nice.

The complaint about the buttons being on the sides instead of the front/top is inane. It's designed for one-handed operation. There are only 5 buttons after all, and all of them are very conveniently reached.

Ditto the complaint about battery life. 2 AA batteries give 20 hours or so, 15 if you use the backlight a lot. So carry a couple of spares, put it in battery save mode, turn it off when not using for extended periods, etc. It's a FIVE OUNCE GPS... get a life.

If you're navigating your way to the Dry Tortugas or trying to find that new customer in a strange town, you'll want something more sophisticated.

But if you're a hunter, a hiker/climber, a bicycler, or just want a small, fun, inexpensive unit you can carry in your pants or shirt pocket, this is a very nice unit.

91 of 91 found the following review helpful:

Wildland Firefighter likes eTrex  May 24, 2000

For the price and its size, it's a 5 star product. Compared to many larger/pricer units it can be only a 3 star. This is a very competetive marketplace and with the removal of the military Selective Availablity coding on May 1st, you've got to take the big leap and buy one. The eTrex shows accuracy of 11-20 feet commonly. In reasonably dense conifer forests around 60 feet. Put yourself in the bottom of a canyon in that forest and you'll have to spend say 5 minutes positioning your GPS to get 100 foot accuracy. That will not work for surveyors, but you'll get back to where you started just fine. Again, the main reason for this success is the military making the accuracy available to all of us. By the way THANKS. This unit is a very reasonable entry GPS Some Problems with the eTrex: 1) Doesn't have a simple map in it and you can't download quality Topo maps onto it. 2) Smaller size means smaller antennae and its reception in timbered canyons is weak. 3) No external antennae hook-up for when in your car. 4) Does not have a built in compass capabilty for when using a bearing, like the very similar Garmin "Summit" model that will be released shortly.(The summit will cost about twice as much). You really need to use a quality compass with it. But, as you should know, GPS will not repace map and compass, just enhance it greatly. However, for your money, this a geat little unit.

108 of 110 found the following review helpful:

Cheap, yes-- but not a good option for geocachers  Mar 28, 2005
By Jacquelyn Lavaque "buzzygirl39"
I purchased a yellow Garmin eTrex GPS about a year ago. My main reason for buying it was because I learned about the sport called 'geocaching', and, knowing little about these devices at that point, I purchased one on the advice of a couple of friends. I used it heavily for for about 5 months before coming to some conclusions about this device's capabilities.

I will first list the yellow eTrex's good points:

- It's cheap-- one of the cheapest GPS receivers you can find.
- It's easy to find-- you can buy one at Target, or at most any sporting goods store.
- It's durable. You can drop it several times or dunk it in water, and it'll still work (dry it out first before you attempt to use it again).
- It has an interface to hook up to your computer to download new firmware and to download geocaching waypoints, if you have the need for this.
- It's easy to use and very intuitive for first timers.

Now, its drawbacks. Realize that I am rating this device from the viewpoint of a geocacher, and we're probably the most demanding users of GPS receivers out there:

- It is not an accurate device if you're attempting to get a definitive lock on a waypoint within 50' of your goal. Once in the general search area, the signal will likely bounce around and give you wildly varying readings. For example, if you've entered a waypoint and get within 50' of your search area, expect to find readings bouncing around from 5-50 feet with each step you take. I used this unit in varying terrain, under varying tree/bush cover, under varying weather/cloud conditions, and in varying temperatures, with the same results. I was able to obtain two other samples of this receiver, and those tests came up with the same results, so I surmise that my eTrex wasn't just an errant sample of these receivers. Upgrading the receivers' firmware did nothing to help the accuracy.

Granted, my experiences with this receiver probably won't matter that much to most of those who will purchase this unit for tasks such as finding your way around while camping, hunting and hiking. For those uses, this unit will work just fine. However, if you're a geocacher and want a GPS unit that will pinpoint your goal effectively, without bouncing your readings from 5-50 ft. as soon as you walk two steps any direction, you will want a GPS unit that has WAAS capabilities (wide area augmentation system). I now have a GPS receiver that has WAAS, and it provides a much more stable lock when in the area of my intended goal.

In short, I found this unit to be frustrating to use for geocaching. There are other GPS units that will provide more stable signal-lock than the Garmin eTrex for close to the same price.

105 of 111 found the following review helpful:

Great for outdoor adventures but...  Apr 27, 2000

The etrex is a very good GPS system for the buck. It doesn't however include many features: compass, speedometer, a waypoint storage system, and a basic map showing only your waypoints. The unit is ideal though for camping, and any outdoor activities that you just need a point-to-point navigation for. The unit itself is very solid, VERY small, water-proof (to 30 feet), and will last about 20 hours on just 2 AA batteries. Amazing technology these days!

Keep in mind, the map on the unit does NOT include any detailed information (i.e cities, roads etc.), just your waypoints that you enter. It you want a GPS with a detailed mapping system (cities, roads, coastlines etc...) get either the Emap or the GPS III+. The III+ is the high-end "outdoors" GPS while the emap is made primarily for driving due to its great capability of data storage.

Overall Evaluation on Etrex: Excellent for the money, fun to use, simple, however not very practical.

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